


Cold Comfort

by FishEyenoMiko



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Genre: Caretaking, Dreams, Gen, Insomnia, Nightmares, Prosthesis, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-07
Updated: 2013-02-07
Packaged: 2017-11-28 12:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/674393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FishEyenoMiko/pseuds/FishEyenoMiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiccup's having trouble sleeping, Toothless comforts him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Comfort

_Hiccup was falling. The heat was smothering him, the bright flames blinding him, the noise deafening him. Above him the dark figure reached out, but he knew it was too late. He-_

Hiccup jerked awake. It took him a second to recognize the ceiling of his house, but as soon as he did, other familiarities came back as well; the creaks of the house, the warmth of fire in the fire pit, the sound of his dad snoring upstairs. The young Viking let out a sigh and started to turn on his side, but with a groan rolled back over; ever since he'd lost the lower part of his left leg, lying on his left side was rather painful. Closing his eyes, he tried to forget about the dream and get back to sleep.

 

_Hiccup was falling. It was cold and dark and silent. He screamed, but nothing seemed to come out. Above him, a figure he could barely see, its green eyes full of horror as it tried to reach him. But it was--_

Hiccup gasped. Again he slowly realized he'd just woken from another nightmare, and that he was safe at home. This dream had been worse than the previous one; something about the cold and darkness had made the situation worse; not being able to see Toothless clearly hadn't helped, either. He sat up, rubbing his forehead. He'd had a long day, and was beginning to think it was going to be a long night, too. The thought of sleeping, of having another of those dreams...

Shifting a bit, Hiccup discovered he had another problem: His foot itched. His _left_ foot. Fortunately, Gobber had told him about what he called "missing limb feeling". Apparently, it was normal for people who had lost limbs to still feel them from time to time. So as odd as it was, at least Hiccup knew this was normal, and something he'd just have to deal with. And considering he'd felt heat and pain at other times, he supposed itching wasn't the worst thing. Pulling back his covers, he rubbed his left thigh and knee, which seemed to make the itching a little more tolerable. As he was doing this, a soft whirring nose came from across the room. Looking over, he saw that Toothless has gotten off his sleeping mat and was making his way over to him. Hiccup smiled as the dragon stood next to his bed. Toothless let out a soft, sad whirring sound and rested his head on Hiccup's lap. 

"Hey, buddy," said Hiccup softly, gently petting Toothless' head. "I guess I'm havin' kind of a rough night." Letting out a little whimper, Toothless moved up, soothingly nuzzling Hiccup's neck and head. Laughing softly, Hiccup pet the dragon's neck. "Thanks, Toothless." 

Hiccup rubbed his leg a little more. Toothless tilted his head with curiosity. "Foot itches," he explained. "Even with it missing, I can still feel it sometimes." Toothless blinked, then swung his tail around to rest it on Hiccup's lap. The boy looked at the scarred area where the dragon's tail fin had been torn away. Hiccup immediately realized the meaning behind the gesture. "Oh, Toothless! I never even considered..." He gently massaged the dragon's tail, near the tip. "How's that, buddy?" Toothless made a purring sound and nuzzled Hiccup again. The Viking laughed.

Toothless stepped back away from Hiccup's bed. He looked at Hiccup then nodded towards his mat. "Yeah," said the boy with a smile, "you can go back to bed, I'm ok." The dragon shook his head. Leaning forward, he took the sleeve of Hiccup's night shirt in his teeth, tugging on it gently. "Y-you want me to sleep with you?" Toothless nodded. Hiccup contemplated this. He had to admit, the thought of snuggling up to Toothless, even if it was on his mat on the floor, was more appealing than trying to get to sleep alone in his own in bed. Toothless could sleep next to his bed, sure; but it just wasn't the same. And there was no way Toothless would fit in Hiccup's bed with him. He smiled. "Ok."

Toothless turned, positioning himself so Hiccup could get onto his back. Draping his blanket over his shoulders, the young man pushed himself off his bed and slid his leg across Toothless' back until he was sitting in the same spot he sat when he and Toothless went flying. Even without the saddle, it felt comfortably familiar. Getting his pillow, he gave his friend a pat on the head with his free hand. "Ok, buddy, I'm ready." Toothless walked slowly across the room, climbing on to his mat. He crouched down so Hiccup could slide off his back, moving his tail around to catch the boy should he tip over. Hiccup managed to dismount just fine, though, so Toothless began to settle himself onto the mat.

Hiccup fluffed his pillow a bit, then lay down next to Toothless on his mat. He pulled his blanket up, tucking it under his chin. After a moment, he carefully turned on his right side, toward Toothless. Hiccup found that the dragon had his head resting so that he was looking in his direction. He smiled. "Hey, buddy." Toothless made a happy little chirping noise, giving Hiccup's cheek a lick. Hiccup moved a little closer, resting his hand on Toothless' side. The cool, smooth skin was comforting. "Goodnight, Toothless," he said softly. The dragon replied with a soft purr, wiggling even closer. Hiccup smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

 

_Hiccup was flying..._


End file.
